Beatrice Mtetwa, Media and Human Rights Lawyer, Zimbabwe

Beatrice Mtetwais a prominent media
and human rights lawyer and a 2005 recipient of CPJ's International Press
Freedom Award. Throughout the decade, Mtetwa has defended numerous journalists
against spurious charges brought by President Robert Mugabe's government. She represented
many of the journalists arrested during a massive crackdown on the press in the
run-up to the 2008 presidential election. Among her court victories was the successful
defense of New York Times reporter Barry
Bearak and British freelance journalist Steven Bevan, both of whom were
arrested under an obsolete press accreditation law.

Mtetwa has defended journalists in a number of high-profile
cases throughout her career. Her clients have included Mercedes Sayagues of South Africa's Mail and Guardian, Andrew Meldrum of The Guardian
of London, Angus
Shaw of The Associated Press, Jan Raath of The Times of London, and Brian Latham of Bloomberg. Mtetwa
also worked on behalf of the Daily News, Zimbabwe's sole independent daily before
it was shuttered in September 2003.

Mtetwa
has faced repeated reprisals. In May 2007, police beat Mtetwa and three
colleagues with rubber clubs. "I am all right but angry," she told one radio interviewer
before resuming work. In 2003, she endured similar abuse after she was arrested
on specious allegations of drunken driving. Mtetwa was taken to a police
station, where she was held for three hours, beaten and choked before being released
without charge.Here are some background links:

Barry Bearak, a journalist for The New York Times,
recounts his terrifying ordeal in a Zimbabwe prison.Charged with the crime of "committing
journalism," Bearak writes how Beatrice Mtetwa secured his release.